


Take me out, to the black

by barbitone



Series: Voltron Fanfiction [37]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fights, Firefly AU, Flashbacks, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reavers - Freeform, Violence, mild body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 02:58:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18240998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barbitone/pseuds/barbitone
Summary: Shiro's friends get him into a bit of trouble, luckily they're there to bail him out again.[Part VI ofYou can't take the sky from me]





	Take me out, to the black

**Author's Note:**

> Now would be a good time to mention what the ship actually looks like- the main engine (on the butt, so to speak) is a fusion reactor, with two additional engines on each side. The additional engines are articulated (like Lotor's fighter, back on good ole Thayserix) mainly so the ship can take off and land vertically, but this is also useful for Maneuvers.
> 
> Also let's review:
> 
> -Reavers: Terrifying space bandits. These are people who have supposedly gone "space mad." In the eternal words of Zoe Wash- "They'll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skins into their clothing. And if we're very, very lucky- they'll do it in that order."
> 
> -Chinese Slang: People in the Firefly Universe use Chinese slang. I don't know Chinese, and all the phrases and words I've used come straight from the firefly wiki. Apologies for any mistakes, and the translations for all words used will be in the end notes.

 

* * *

 

The job had gone smoothly and they’d gotten paid without the usual trouble of last minute negotiations and backstabbing. Shiro found himself in an awful good mood for once, and that was why he’d let Pidge drag him off to a pub.

They found a card game and between the two of them they’d been racking up a modest pile of winnings for a while until the locals caught Pidge cheating. When the brawl broke out he shot her the signal to rabbit and by the time the law men arrived Shiro was the only one that got taken away.

But he figured that was fine as he paced the small cell, listening for the sheriff and his men as they argued on the floor above. He pulled his lockpicks out of the sole of his boot and it wasn’t until he’d tried to pick the door and gotten a nasty shock that he started to think he might be in a bit of real trouble.

He tried the hinges next and then the bars of the narrow window set high into the wall, only for the same thing to happen again. And since when did tiny provinces like this have their jail cells equipped with particle barriers?

Suddenly the walls of the cell felt like they were closing in on him but he loosened his collar and forced himself to breathe. It was fine. It was all going to be fine. They wouldn’t leave without him, they’d come for him one way or another. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

There was some sort of commotion upstairs and he got to his feet, listening for any clue as he waited.

Footsteps approached and then _Lotor_ was there, striding confidently into the dank prison. He seemed so out of place here in his fine robes and jewelry. His long white hair was tied back into a loose braid and practically glowing in the dim light.

“This is him?” the sheriff asked uncertainly.

Lotor ran his eyes down Shiro’s body, frowning faintly like there was a bad smell in the room.

“Yes,” he said as he stepped closer to the bars.

Shiro didn’t dare say anything at all as he looked at Lotor before him.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice you accessing my accounts?” Lotor demanded. “That I wouldn’t find you?” Shiro looked down, licking his lips as he stayed silent, afraid of ruining whatever play he was running.

Lotor turned to the sheriff next to him, still frowning. “This man is an indentured servant of mine with three years left on his debt. After this little stunt we’ll have to add at least a year more, won’t we?”

He said the last to Shiro, and it wasn’t so difficult to look cowed. “I’m sorry, Master Lotor,” Shiro whispered, looking off to the side like he was afraid.

“What would your wife say if she knew you’d stolen half my fortune and run off to be with some shipyard doxy?” Lotor continued, his eyes glittering like he was having the time of his life.

“Please, Master Lotor,” Shiro said, widening his eyes in mock distress. “I was weak. Please don’t tell her what I’ve gone and done.”

Lotor sighed heavily, bringing his hand up to his brow like he had a headache. “I won’t, but only because a fine woman like her doesn’t deserve the pain of knowing her husband is a good-for-nothing cheat. You’ll shape up, Shiro. You’ll shape up and make this up to her.”

He turned to the sheriff, his voice suddenly polite and soft. “Apologies for my manner, I’m afraid this whole… ordeal has taken quite a toll.”

“No need,” the sheriff said. “Why, it’s an honor just to have you here- a registered Companion! In these parts- never thought I’d see the day.”

“Will you need to hold him very much longer?” Lotor asked sweetly. “I’ve got an appointment to make-”

“Of course,” the sheriff said with a nod. “It was just a brawl, we’d be glad to release him into your custody right away, Master Lotor. Would you like me to assign a few men to escort you?”

“That’s quite generous of you to offer, but there’s no need,” Lotor said. “He’ll behave himself. Won’t you?”

“Yes, Master Lotor,” Shiro said, fighting to hold back a smile.

The sheriff opened the cell and Shiro trailed after Lotor ahead of him, his eyes still cast down respectfully. He waited until they were alone to laugh, grabbing Lotor by the hand to pull him into the nearest alley.

“Thanks,” he murmured, stepping closer. He couldn’t help blushing at the way Lotor looked at him, but that was alright- it was dark enough that Lotor wouldn’t see.

“Well, we couldn’t very well leave without our Captain, could we?” Lotor asked, smiling as he tilted his face up.

Lotor was so close that Shiro couldn’t help taking a step towards him, raising his hand to his face. Maybe it was his imagination but Lotor seemed to lean in to the touch, his body sagging against the wall like it was the only thing keeping him standing.

“Your Keith wanted to charge in guns blazing, but I thought this way would be more efficient. I hope you didn’t mind the fiction,” Lotor said quietly, his eyes glittering in the moonlight.

“I wouldn’t mind being your indentured man,” Shiro said with a smile. “I think you’d be a generous master.”

Lotor’s gaze seemed so open, his lips suddenly looked so inviting. Shiro was drawn to him like a magnet and he had to catch himself with a hand against the wall before he did something regrettable- like kiss him senseless.

But maybe- maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all. Lotor had stayed, hadn’t he? And sometimes he looked at Shiro with such _heat_ in his eyes that it left him needing to catch his breath.

He took a half step closer, practically pinning Lotor to the wall with his body. He didn’t miss Lotor’s sharp intake of breath, the way his eyes threatened to flutter closed. He wanted this. He wanted-

“Shiro,” Lotor said sharply, turning his head to the side. He suddenly seemed tense and frightened and Shiro pulled back, looking around nervously.

“What-”

“Something’s wrong. Do you hear that?”

Shiro turned, trying to figure out what he was talking about. There was something like a faint whine in the distance, like a ship entering atmo too quickly. He looked up and saw it, hurtling towards the earth like a fireball. It was running without a containment field and trailing radiation behind it like a foul tail.

It was close enough now that he could make out the spikes and sheets of twisted metal welded to its hull, trophies of its last kills.

“Oh no,” Shiro whispered as the world grew silent and still around him. He could smell it now, hot metal and blood, rot and shit and piss mixed together. It was a smell straight out of his nightmares, even after all this time.

“Oh gods,” Lotor said, eyes wide as he stared at the ship. “Is that-”

“Where are the others?” Shiro demanded.

“Outside of town, beyond the second ridge. But I- my hoverbike is just a few streets away.”

“Do you have my things?” Shiro asked desperately. “My pistol- did they give you back my pistol?”

“I- I- no, I didn’t think to-” Lotor bit his lip, watching nervously as Shiro swore. “Shiro, please- what-”

“It’s going to be alright, sweetheart,” Shiro said firmly, taking his hand. “But we’ve gotta go. We’ve gotta go _now.”_

That was when they heard the first scream. For a second Shiro was back on Altea. He was pushing Lady Allura out of the way, facing down a monstrous man with a cut-up face and teeth filed down to points, he was screaming in agony as those teeth came down on the flesh of his arm, _tearing-_

But Lotor was here, looking at him with fear and confusion, and Shiro had to keep him safe.

“Come on,” Shiro said, leading him back out to the street. There was fire in the distance. The screams were getting closer.

They ran from the commotion, towards the hoverbike. They weren’t fast enough.

Shiro smelled them before he saw them, and then there were half a dozen reavers rushing towards them. They seemed closer to wild animals than anything human, filthy and mutilated, dressed in clothing made of scraps of leather and metal plates and spikes, mismatched and stinking. One was wearing something like a cloak sewn together from scraps of flesh and filthy matted hair. Human scalps.

They howled at the sight of fresh prey, throwing their heads up to the sky. It was too many and Shiro didn’t have his pistol, but he didn’t have time to think about that. He couldn’t let them get to Lotor.

He was terrified but he set his jaw and raised his metal arm, the only weapon he had left now. The first was almost on him but he fell back as a dagger with a jeweled hilt seemed to sprout from his throat.

“What the-” Shiro turned to see Lotor pulling another dagger from his robes and he had- he had a _sword_ in his other hand, an energy blade shining bright purple-

“Eyes up front, Captain,” Lotor said, and Shiro looked back at the reavers. The others had paused but not for long and Shiro lunged forward, bending to grab the dagger before punching one of the reavers in the face with his metal fist. Another went down in a flash of purple light and then there were only three and they had a chance.

If they’d been fighting anyone else they might have run, but reavers didn’t know fear, didn’t know surrender. All they knew was blood lust. They didn’t stop until they were dead, and then Shiro was taking Lotor’s hand and they were running again.

The screaming of the townsfolk was loud in Shiro’s ears but they couldn’t stop to help anyone else. They just needed to go, get _out._

“Are your comms working?” Shiro gasped as he started the bike.

“Yes.” Lotor sat behind him, wrapping his left arm tightly around Shiro’s waist while he still held the sword in his right.

“Tell them- tell Keith that reavers are here, tell them to get ready to fly.”

Lotor did as he was told, passing along the breathless message as Shiro hit the throttle. The wind pulled at his hair and made his eyes sting and tear up but it stole away that _smell_ and it wasn’t such a struggle to think straight anymore. They were out of the town now and speeding down a rocky path. Why hadn’t they parked their boat closer?

Shiro didn’t have enough breath left to curse, didn’t have enough presence of mind to think about anything other than keeping his hands from shaking so he wouldn’t crash the bike.

“Gods,” he breathed out when the Black Lion finally came into view, the engines already running and ready for takeoff. The hold was open and Zethrid was standing there clutching a gun nearly as big as she was. “I ain’t ever seen a prettier sight,” Shiro said with a small smile as he drove the bike inside and Zethrid hit the button to close the door behind them.

“Is it really reavers?” she asked.

“Yes,” Lotor said as Shiro stood, heading to the cockpit.

“Get to your bunks!” he yelled over his shoulder. “Buckle in- this may get bumpy.”

“Shiro,” Keith said tightly as he moved to let Shiro sit in the pilot’s seat. “Are you alright?”

“Pretty as a peach,” he forced himself to say. “Pidge, I need you in the engine room,” he said into the comms.

“I’m here, Cap,” she answered.

Shiro pulled up on the controls. His instincts were screaming at him to just- _punch it-_ give it everything and get as far away from this rock as fast as they could. He knew his instincts were wrong- they needed to stay low. If they stayed low maybe the reavers wouldn’t see them running, wouldn’t follow.

“Shiro, patience yields focus,” Keith said.

“Right,” Shiro said, muttering the calming mantra under his breath as he took them up carefully. He’d learned it after he’d first lost his arm, when he’d been having nightmares so bad he could barely sleep at all. That had been a long time ago, and he’d survived it then. They’d survive now, too.

He took them away, keeping as low to the ground as he could. How long would it take for the reavers to run through that town? Where they here because they were hungry or because they were bored? Would they kill and eat their fill and move on or would they stay to rape and torture?

Shiro blinked rapidly to push the thoughts away. It didn’t matter now, all that mattered was getting away.

 _“Tah mah duh hwoon dahn!”_ Keith hissed. “Bogey on our six.”

“We’ll lose them in the canyon,” Shiro said, taking them in. “I saw their hunk of _fei-oo_ , it’s got nothing on us.”

Keith gripped the armrests of his seat tightly when Shiro took the ship into a sharp nose-dive, and that was just- insulting.

“Scared?” he asked with a laugh.

“Yes, you maniac!”

Shiro leveled off just in time to avoid the ground.

“They’re still on us,” Keith muttered. “They’re probably running without stabilizers- gives them more speed and maneuverability at the risk of injuring the crew but you know that don’t matter to them.”

“We’ve got more than one trick up our sleeves,” Shiro said. “Don’t we, kitten.” He reached out to pat the Black Lion’s dashboard fondly before hitting the intercom button.

“Pidge, we’re pulling a Crazy Ivan. Be ready to go to full burn after.”

“In atmo?!”

“I know what I’m doing, Pidge!”

“Would this be a bad time to mention that we really should just install guns, already?” Keith muttered.

“Yeah, this here would be a pretty bad time to mention that, thanks.”

“Cap- I’m ready!” Pidge cried out.

“Right,” Shiro said, pulling up on the controls to rise sharply through the air. “Keith, you’re my eyes on this.”

“Yeah,” Keith said, watching the sensors intently. “They’re gaining, hold.”

Shiro exhaled slowly, gripping the controls so hard his knuckles were white.

“Hold.”

Everything went silent, it was just him and the ship. At times like this he almost felt like he and the Black Lion were one, a single entity pointed towards the same goal- the open sky, a breath of fresh air, freedom.

_“Now!”_

Shiro hit the left engine control to flip it backwards, sending the Black Lion into a tight spin. They flew wild for a breathless moment and then Shiro flipped it back. They’d turned on a dime and now they were flying at the reavers. He yanked on the controls, hurtling directly under the enemy ship. Time seemed to slow as he looked up at the reavers above them.

Their hull was painted with bloody sigils, stained with soot and rust, radiation stains. There were skulls mounted on it like a gruesome craft project-

And then they were past. Shiro yanked up on the controls to take them out into space.

“Now, Pidge! Full burn!”

It took a second and then he saw that familiar golden glow flickering at the edges of his vision as the fusion engine engaged. The resulting explosion sent them rocketing forward as the air burned around them.

Shiro couldn’t help whooping with exhilaration and joy as his vision blurred and they were in the black again, getting steadily further away from the monsters behind them.

“Please tell me we lost them.”

“Yeah,” Keith laughed. “They’re not recovering from that one any time soon. We lost ‘em.”

Shiro let go of the controls with a sharp gasp and engaged the autopilot before letting himself sag against the seat and dropping his head back. He closed his eyes as he took deep calming breaths, and then he pulled himself together and hit the intercom button.

“This is your Captain speaking,” he said, forcing a light tone of voice so they’d know they were safe. “Go ahead and unclench your cheeks- we’re flyin’ free and clear.”

“Maybe you should let me take the helm,” Keith said after the intercom shut down.

“Yeah,” Shiro said, standing carefully so he wouldn’t fall over. The adrenaline draining from his system left him shaky, his vision darkening a little at the edges. “Yeah. Thanks, Keith.”

“Take it easy,” Keith said, patting him on the back.

Shiro nodded with a small smile before stumbling back to his bunk, keeping a hand on the wall to steady himself. He changed out of his sweaty clothes in a bit of a stupor before sitting down hard on his bed and dropping his head into his hands. They’d gotten away.

They’d gotten away, they were safe.

They were safe.

But what about everyone else?

He could hear the screaming of the townsfolk, rising like a dark symphony in his mind. He could smell it, too- smoke and piss and sweat, the smell of terror.

There was a hand on his shoulder and he jerked and scrambled back with a sharp gasp.

“Easy, it’s just me,” Lotor said as Shiro stared at him in confusion. “Apologies,” he said, holding his hands up. “I probably shouldn’t have just barged in, but I was knocking and when you didn’t answer, I-”

“Sorry,” Shiro said, his heart still trying to beat out of his chest. Lotor’s presence was soothing, grounding. He even managed a small smile as he reached out to take Lotor’s hand, bringing it back to his shoulder. “Are you alright, did you need anything?”

Lotor laughed. “Did I? No. I thought you might. After what happened… I thought you might like some company.”

“You don’t need to play therapist for me,” Shiro said gently. “I had one of those, you know. She was very good.”

“I’m here as a friend.”

A friend. Right.

“You handled yourself pretty well back there,” Shiro said, his heart starting to slow again. “Better than me, probably. I didn’t know you were a fighter.”

“I’ve been training with a sword since I was six, Shiro. But I must admit that was my first real fight. It’s… different.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Shiro said with a laugh.

They sat silently for a while and Shiro couldn’t help playing the events of the night over and over again in his mind. All he could think about was the screams, the _stink-_

“Shiro,” Lotor said firmly, drawing him back.

Shiro got to his feet to pace the tiny bunk, running his hands through his hair. “I’m fine,” he said. “I’ll be fine. I just keep thinkin’-”

“I know. You should try and get some rest.”

“I won’t be able to sleep a while yet, I reckon.”

“I could stay here with you, if you’d like.”

Shiro looked up at him in surprise but Lotor just seemed cool and collected as usual. “I- that’s nice of you to offer but I’ll probably have nightmares. I wouldn’t want to keep you up, or- or- hurt you.”

“I’m no stranger to nightmares,” Lotor said. “I’m sure I’ll have a few of my own tonight.”

“I- I’m not sure it’s the best idea.”

“Would it help if I said it was for me?” Lotor said with a smile.

“Well, not now that you’ve shown your cards,” Shiro said. But when Lotor held out his hand Shiro took it before sitting back down on the bed.

Lotor moved to unlatch his right arm and Shiro didn’t even flinch, too familiar with it now after weeks of casual touches and regular diagnostics and tune-ups. Even the smell of sweat and metal rising as Lotor helped him take off the nano-mesh didn’t make him ashamed any longer. If anything it was familiar, _normal._

Shiro wiped his stump off with a washcloth while he watched Lotor methodically removing his jewelry to arrange it neatly on the ledge set into the wall above the bed. They hadn’t slept in the same bed since the night of that first job, but somehow it felt so natural to curl up together on Shiro’s narrow bunk.

“You saved my life,” Shiro said quietly as he ran his fingers through Lotor’s hair.

“You saved mine first,” he said. “And I was- terrified. I was frozen until you acted. Does this… happen a lot out here?”

“Fights? Sure. But not like this. Reavers are pushing further in every year, and at the same time the Alliance is spreading out. Soon there won’t be any place for people like us at all.”

“People like us?” Lotor asked, propping himself up on his elbows so he could look down at him. Lotor’s eyebrows were drawn together like he was perplexed, but the edges of his lips were quirked up in a smile.

“Vagabonds and wanderers,” Shiro said with a grin. “Explorers and free spirits.”

“Hmm,” Lotor hummed, dropping his head back down and moving to wrap an arm around Shiro’s waist. “Thieves and fugitives, more like.”

“That too,” Shiro laughed. “But we’ll be alright a while longer. Long as we’re still flying we’ll be just fine.  


 

 

_fin._

**Author's Note:**

> If you thought Shiro and Lotor were going to get their acts together... I'm so sorry for you, and all of us tbh. P.S. yes it is canon that Companions get trained in sword fighting, although I'm betting that coming from a rich fancy family Lotor started training before he joined the Companion's guild. More on that next time ;)
> 
> Notes:  
> atmo - atmosphere  
> Tah mah duh hwoon dahn - Mother humping son of a bitch  
> Fei-oo - junk
> 
> Find me on tumblr at [barbitone](http://barbitone.tumblr.com/) and pillowfort also at [barbitone](https://www.pillowfort.io/barbitone)


End file.
